1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to determination of the level of tumor associated glycolinkage containing substances, i.e., sugar related substances including glycoproteins, glycopeptides, glycolipids and sugars (hereafter TAG) in a sample of body fluids of mammals, more particularly those TAG which increase as undifferentiated cells, especially tumor or cancer cells proliferate, and diagnosis of cancer based on such determination.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has heretofore been used a method of determining the level of specific glycoproteins in a sample of body fluids of patients with cancer. This process makes use of the antigenicity mainly of the protein moiety of the glycoproteins. For example, .alpha..sub.1 -foetoprotein level and carcinoembryonic antigen (hereafter CEA) level are determined for the diagnosis of primary hepatoma and of cancers of digestive organs, particularly rectal cancer, etc. (cf. Igaku no Ayumi, vol. 106, No. 5, Fifth Saturday Special Issue, pp. 235-250 (1978)). However, these methods are not satisfactory since their applicability is limited to certain types of cancers and tumors.
On the other hand, no diagnostic method utilizing the linking specificity of the sugar residue of TAG is known heretofore.
There is a long existing need for a simple, inexpensive quantitative methodology to determine TAG levels in body fluids which has a wide applicability.